Thursday, September 1, 2022

OPA SEPTEMBER 2022

 




A

WORLDWIDE WRITERS’ WEB

PRESENTATION!

 

PUBLISHED BY

 

OPA

 

OUR

POETRY ARCHIVE

ONLINE MONTHLY POETRY JOURNAL

https://ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com

email us to:

ourpoetryarchive@gmail.com

**************************************

 


RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV - INTERVIEW

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA TALKING WITH POET

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV

SEPTEMBER 2022


 ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: Do you come from a literary background?


RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: Answering your question, I cannot say directly that I come from a literary environment in the literal sense. That is, my parents were not a poet and a poetess. And in my family, I don’t remember anyone from my ancestors who could be engaged in literary creativity. My grandfather, whose name was Mirzakarimjon, was a deeply religious person. Educated by the mullah of his time. People still say about him that by reading a prayer from the Koran he could make water flow in a ditch in the opposite direction. However, my father, whose name was Zokirzhon, sometimes tried to write poetry. Mother - Zarifakhon from early childhood was fond of Uzbek folklore, continuously read Uzbek folk epics, dastans, legends and fairy tales. Such as "Alpomish", "Yodgor", "Gurugli", "Shohsanam and Garib", the poems of the great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi "Farhod and Shirin", "Layli and Mazhnun", as well as legends and tales of the East, such as "Thousand and one night", "Tales of the peoples of the world" and others. All these books were given to her as a dowry by her mother Khosiyathon for her wedding. Kingdom of heaven to them. But if we think about all this in a more global sense, then I can proudly say that I am, yes, from the literary environment in which Alisher Navoi, Zahiriddin Muhammad Bobur and others were born, grew up and became the great poets of the world. If I think even more globally, I dare to assure you that I am from that literary environment of the East, which gave the world such great poets, philosophers, thinkers of the Universe - Jaloliddin Rumi and Omar Khayyam...

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What inspired you to start writing?


RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: The first thing that inspired me, or rather forced me to write poetry, was while watching the TV program “In the Animal World” of the Central Television of the then USSR. I was then 11 years old. Seeing for the first time the scene of a lion attacking a defenceless doe, my heart could not stand this injustice in which the strong preyed on the weak. At this time, for the first time, a feeling of protest against injustice arose in my heart. And I couldn't find my place. My heart was ready to burst with pain. I immediately ran out into the yard, and stared sharply at the blue sky, silently asking the question: “God, what is this? Is it possible so? But the answer was his own hot tears. Then for the first time I realized that the world in which I found myself against my will, in which Evil is able to punish Good, I felt uneasy. Perhaps this was my very first childhood philosophy about the Universe. My second outburst of the soul was the drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in which I saw the same tragic scene of a predatory lion with a harmless gazelle? My heart kept asking the same question: “For what?”, “Why?”, “Why?”. Then I finally decided to become a fighter for justice, for peace, a supporter of the oppressed, their defender. I gave myself a word to devote my life to protecting the Earth, the Planet from evil individuals, no matter in what way they inhabit the Earth ... So I became the protector of the weak from the strong, the good from the evil, the truthful from the untruthful ...

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What writers did you enjoy reading as a child?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: As a child, I loved to read the same books that I mentioned above, which my mother loved to read in childhood and adolescence. Later, in addition to Uzbek literature, I became interested in reading Russian literature. Then foreign. Until now, I love to read Pushkin, Lermontov, Yesenin, Blok, Shakespeare, Dante, Pablo Neruda, Rabindranath Tagore... In my student years I became very interested in Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman literature. Throughout my life, I have been attracted by French, Indian, Chinese, Japanese literature, which are distinguished by their wisdom and depth. I am intoxicated by the masterpieces of literature and other peoples of the world.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: I never yearned for any literary pilgrimage. Although it wouldn't bother me. On the contrary, it would enrich as a craftsman of the word, a servant of thinking. The very land on which I was born, that is, the ancient city of Osh, has long been considered the second Mecca, in the center of which is the sacred mountain Takhti-Sulaimon, the Throne of Solomon. According to ancient beliefs, the prophet Solomon himself and his couple visited here in ancient times. In addition, the hero of the great Kyrgyz epic "Manas" Bogatyr Manas, the great commander Amir Temur, the great commander and poet Zahiriddin Muhammad Babur and many others once stepped on this land. Later, Allah granted me another literary pilgrimage. I entered the Literary Institute named after A.M. Gorky, where many well-known writers of the world, classics of Russian literature, and literature of the peoples of the former USSR studied. I was lucky to study for five years in the historic home of one of the classics of Russian literature, the writer Alexander Herzen, and our institute was named after another classic of Russian literature, A.M. Gorky. During my five years of study in Moscow, I managed to visit almost all the literary and cultural places of the former capital of the USSR. I visited the museums of A.S. Pushkin, A.P. Chekhov, I.S. Turgenev, A.M. Gorky, V.V. Mayakovsky, Sergei Yesenin and others. As a participant of the Republican seminar of young writers of Uzbekistan, I visited literary sights, museums, monuments of the classics of Uzbek literature in Tashkent ...

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: How did you get started as a poet?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: I went to this for a very long time, meaningfully and seriously. All the time it seemed like a fateful mission sent to me by the Almighty himself. If the first impetus for my becoming a poet was the above-mentioned incident with a lion and gazelles while watching the program “In the Animal World”, then later poetry took possession of me day and night, and life itself awarded me the title of “poet”. I accepted it as a commitment from God. As the mission of my stay on Earth. The meaning of life. Illness and healing. Pain and joy. Tears and laughter. Defeat and victory. Love and hate...By the way, about love. The second reason I became a poet was my love at an early age. When I was only 13 years old. In the process of growing up, growing up by being enchanted by the beauty of the opposite sex, a misfortune befell me - the misfortune of love. Unfortunately, unanswered. I don't know what it was? Maybe this was another test of the Creator to meld me into a poet: I fell in love from head to toe, from the hair of my head to the tips of my toenails. I burned in the flame of love like a phoenix. I was hurt and sweet in the fire of this love, from which I almost lost my mind. I had to bite the floor, the earth from the lack of that ill-fated love, in the grip of passion. But in the course of all this walking through the torments, I never for a moment forgot about the main purpose of my life - about serving Her Majesty Justice, to which I still serve. Although I had to renounce everything - from relatives, friends, like-minded people, in exchange for whom I even managed to acquire enemies.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: How do your poems develop? Please guide us through the stages of a poem!

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: My poems awaken inside me like a volcano, no matter where it comes from. Unexpectedly, unexpectedly. Sometimes I feel myself as a keyboard, pressing which someone writes something. It seems to me that I am only fulfilling the function of an executor of someone's order from above. As if someone from heaven is raising me with my own hands. This cleanses my soul. It's like I'm revising my heart. I teach it like a teacher teaches a student. I free myself from negative emotions, erase my feelings from dirt. In a word, I write poetry and pray it. I turn to God. Poems in me develop as waves develop on the sea. I try to teach them the way a rider tries to teach wild horses to ride. At the conclusion of the process, I still manage to take the reins of my feelings into my own hands and calm down. This is how the sequence of lines is born, which is called a poem. How does it start? The thought suddenly hits the skull. I take a pen and notebook or sit down at the computer. Slowly I begin to write with a pen or type letters. The first line appears. Then the second, the third... My "I" governs my brain and heart. I watch the flow of blood in the vessels. Eyes, hands, breath obey me. It's like I'm composing music on the piano. I write down every single note. I play at the same time. More precisely, I read silently. I sing, silently. I follow the sound of the emerging song at the same time. Inside yourself. Deep in the heart and mind. Blood and breath.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: In my opinion, in the course of writing an ideal letter, all elements should be important. There should be no secondary elements in the process of creating a verse. Every detail, from the size of the verse, its intonation, down to the rhyming of the lines, must be of the highest level. For this, a writing person will need both dexterity, and vigilance, and sensitivity, and sensuality, and, of course, God's talent. Behind all this there should be a pure, beautiful soul. And without a beautiful soul, without a beautiful, golden heart, it is hardly possible to create a masterpiece.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What is the most difficult part about writing for you?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: For me, the most difficult thing in writing is to be recognized all over the world and not recognized in my homeland, or to be recognized by the peoples of the world and not recognized by my own people.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: How did you manage to fit writing in with other demands on your time? Are you good at managing your time?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: I don't understand what you want to ask me. What device are you talking about? If by this you mean my publishing activity, then I can answer you this way. As I told you above, I do not have the opportunity to publish my works in publications and publishing houses operating in the region - most of them are private. Therefore, it remains for me to deal with the publication of my works on foreign literary portals and publishing houses. Yes, I manage my time well. Otherwise, I would not have managed to do as much as I have already done. Every minute counts for me. I value seconds. I manage to achieve all this by reducing the time of my night's sleep. Sometimes you have to shorten the time for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I spend very little time on my personal life. In a word, from morning till night, I burrow in my cauldron of creativity. In own juice...

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA:  Who are your favourite living poets?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: I like all the poets of our time. For, each of them has his own world, his own worldview, attitude. Everyone has their own style, their own voice, their own unique handwriting. Therefore, I appreciate each of them. Even those who are negatively opposed to me. Because I look at people as God's creations. Through each of them, the Creator wants to tell us something. That is, He rules the world with the help of us humans. It is we who set the world in motion with our participation. Everything that will happen to us tomorrow depends on us. It is not for nothing that they say that man proposes, God disposes… This means that in order for God to ideally dispose, we must accordingly assume.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA:  How did you first get published?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: My poems were first published in 1978 in Russian in the large-circulation newspaper "The Voice of the Textile Worker" of the Osh Production Cotton Association named after the 50th anniversary of October, where I then worked as a repairman.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: Have you ever had a work rejected?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: Yes, sometimes they are rejected. Unfortunately.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: Can you give any advice to someone wanting to write and publish poetry?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: Of course, I can. Be honest and fair. First of all. Keep thoughts, feelings, heart, hands clean. It is necessary to renounce all negative human qualities, such as duplicity, sycophancy, lies, envy, intrigue. Before writing poetry, first of all, you need to cleanse your heart of sins in order to maintain a connection with heaven. Otherwise, the angels of inspiration will leave you.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What is the imagery or mood in your poem?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: My images are the most simple and vital. And the mood corresponding to reality. As an indicator, as a litmus test, I reflect the state of reality. I avoid chaotic words, fashionable rhymes. For me, simplicity comes first. Simplicity of words, simplicity of thought. I do not seek to adjust the world to my mood. Most likely, I adapt to the mood of society - I state about its negative and positive features. I try to be a mirror for society.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What's the worst advice you hear authors give writers?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: Giving advice to authors is difficult. In my practice, I try not to give advice to anyone. Because every person is different. Only he knows what he lives and what he breathes. Poetry is a means of self-expression. And how can you tell a person what he wants to say. Probably, the author just needs to be extremely sincere in order to interest the reader.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: What does success mean to you? What is the definition of success?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: Success for me is, first of all, the recognition of readers. If your attitude, your point of view, your position corresponds to the position of the reader, if you were able to lure him with your philosophy, with your writing, then you have succeeded. I think that success is not measured by titles and awards won.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: How do you handle literary criticism?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: I have a negative attitude towards literary criticism. Especially if it's custom. There are critics who write positive reviews for not-quite-talented writers if powerful people ask them to. Or vice versa, the works of worthy writers are subjected to sharp criticism. In a word, critics should always be objective. They have no moral right to distort literature. Of course, there are self-respecting critics. They are able to objectively assess the current literary process.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: We are currently working on a global, I would say planetary scale project. We want to identify the worthiest poets and writers of the world. To date, hundreds of writers have registered as nominees for our modest worldwide award. In the future, we intend to announce a long list of all the nominees for the award. A little later we will announce a short list of finalists, then winners. This will happen on New Year's Eve. By doing this, we want to morally support the writers of the world, to stimulate their work. There are a lot of writers in the world. But there are very few awards and prizes. Therefore, we decided to fill this gap to some extent. For now, I am not writing anything new. True, I compose new poems every day, and post them on the Internet for the judgment of my readers and friends.

 

ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: If you had to describe yourself as a writer in three words, what would they be?

 

RAHIM KARIM KARIMOV: I am a simple, modest poet, writer and translator who has devoted his whole life to Literature.

 

RAHIM KARIM (Karimov) - Uzbek-Russian-Kyrgyz Soviet poet, writer, publicist, translator (b. 1960, Osh, Kyrgyzstan). Graduated from the Moscow Literary Institute named after A.M. Gorky (1986, seminar of Yegor Isaev, Vladimir Milkov). Member of the National Union of Writers, the Union of Journalists of the Kyrgyz Republic. Official representative of the International Federation of Russian-speaking Writers (London-Budapest) in Kyrgyzstan. Co-chairman of the Literary Council of the Eurasian Peoples Assembly (Russia). Member of the Writers' Union of Russia. Laureate of the International Competition "Golden Stool", AUCA, Kyrgyzstan. Laureate of the international prize "Many languages - one world", AUCA, Kyrgyzstan. Winner of the Aga Khan Foundation International Children's Book Competition, 2011. Laureate of the Republican Literary Prizes named after Moldo Niyaz, Egemberdi Ermatov. Honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Morocco). Academician of the Academy "Turon", Uzbekistan. Laureate of the International Prize  named after Peter Bogdani (Brussels-Pristina). Member of the International Association of Writers (Belgium-Pristina). Laureate of the International Peace Prize named after Swami Vivekananda (India). Ambassador of the World Children's Movement in Central Asia (Nigeria). Member of the World Haiku Association (Japan). Laureate of the Gold Prize (Ethiopia). Laureate of the prize of the International Union of English-speaking Writers (India). "Outstanding Public Person of the World" (Morocco). "Author of the Year - 2019" (Netherlands). "Author of the Year - 2019" (Montenegro). Laureate of the International Dardanica Prize (North Macedonia). "Author of the Year - 2019" (USA). Representative of the radio project "Unite the World with Poems" in Kyrgyzstan (Mexico). Icon of World Literature (Mexico-India). Ambassador of World Literature, Oman. World Literature Ambassador, World Literary Academy, Romania. Official translator of the international literary magazine ITACHA (Spain). Holder of the International Gold Certificate of Recognition (Morocco). Recipient of the Honorary Diploma of Poets of the World "Isla Negra", Chile. Winner of the PENTASI World Poets Festival, Beijing, 2019. Certificate of the Rosas Orquideas Poeticas World Competition (Colombia). Laureate of the International Prize "City of Galateo - Antonio de Ferrari", Rome, Italy, 2020 and 2021. Awarded with the "Diploma for the Promotion of Literature at the World Level" (Guinness Book of Records) by the World Academy of Literature, the World Association of Poets (Romania). Awarded the Order of Shakespeare, Oman, 2020. Laureate of the National Poet Competition of the Prince of Muzaka Literary and Artistic Association, Albania, 2020. Gujarat, India. Appointed National President of the World Union of Latin American Writers (UHE) in Kyrgyzstan, World Director of Publications and Translation of the World Union of Latin American Writers (UHE). Awarded the medal of Kairat Parman-Duissenov, Oman, World Union of Nations Writers, Kazakhstan, Certificate "Poet of the Asian Continent", World Union of Latin American Writers (UHE), 2020. Was Chairman of the jury of the World Poet Competition, World League of Poets, Nigeria, 2020, Chairman jury of the World Poet Competition, Philippines, 2020. Winner of the Global Poet Certificate, Texas, USA. Chairman of the Jury of the World Poet Competition, World League of Poets, Nigeria, 2020. Certificate of Chief Judge and Leading Representative for International Affairs, World League of Poets, Nigeria, 2020. Awarded a Certificate of Appreciation for his contribution to the "Literary and Cultural Art", Cairo, Egypt. Certificate of Recognition, Lebanon. Certificate of Recognition, Texas, USA. Member of the World Movement of Poets, Chile. Winner of the “Friend” Cup, Egypt. Received the World Literary Prize. Cesar Vallejo, Peru, 2020. Winner of the "International Prize for the Best Poets and Translators of 2020", International Poetry Translation and Research Center (IPTRC), PRC, Greek Academy of Arts and Literature. Member of the editorial board of the website "New Literature of Kyrgyzstan". Laureate of the Sahitto International Literary Prize - 2021, Bangladesh. Honorary Global Advisor (FOWCAAS), Singapore in Kyrgyzstan. Participant of the III World Poetry Conference, India, 2021. Awarded the International Prize of the Union of Latin American Writers "Golden Eagle - 2021", Peru. Laureate of the "Star of World Poetry" prize, Academy of Literature, Romania, 2021. Laureate of the International Prize of the Sahitya Academy (2021). Ambassador of the World Peace Institute in Kyrgyzstan, 2021. Winner of the International Silver Shield Prize, Union of Latin American Writers (UHE), Peru, 2021. Awarded a Certificate of Recognition, Texas, USA, 2021. Awarded with an Honorary Diploma for Merit. Latin American Academy of Modern Literature, Academic Society of Ibero-American Historians, 2022, Mexico. Prize Velardiniello - 2022, Academician and honoris causa, Naples, Italy. Rabindranath Tagore International Literary Prize, India, 2022. Repeated participant of young writers of Uzbekistan. Author of the national bestseller "Kamila", Book Chamber of the Kyrgyz Republic, 2005. Winner of the second prize at the International Book Forum "Open Central Asian Book Forum and Literary Festival - 2012" (Great Britain). Nominated for the All-Russian literary prize "Poet of the Year - 2013, -2014, -2015", "Heritage-2015, -2016" S. Yesenin (2016). He was awarded the silver medal of the Eurasian literary festival LiFFt in the category "Eurasian poet", 2017, the medal "Kyrgyz tili" of the State Commission on the State Language under the President of the Kyrgyz Republic. Awarded with certificates of honor of the Osh regional state administration, 1988, the mayor's office of the city of Osh, 1990. Author of about 60 books of original, translated poetry and prose. Works, books have been published and published in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Canada, Mongolia, Romania, Greece, Netherlands, Zimbabwe, India, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Albania, Belgium, Pakistan, Republic of China, People's Republic of China, Japan, Iraq, Mexico, Venezuela, Poland, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Spain, France, USA, Colombia, Germany, Costa Rica, Turkey, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Italy, Spain, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Kosovo, Vietnam, Israel, Sweden, Philippines, Seychelles, Peru, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Indonesia, Scotland, Singapore, Portugal and other countries of the world in Uzbek, Kyrgyz, Russian , Tajik, English, Ukrainian, French, Spanish, Romanian, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Malayalam, Dutch, German, Polish, Greek, Persian, Pashtun, Dari, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Macedonian Skom, Serbian, Albanian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin, Slovak, Malay, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Nepali, Hebrew, Swedish, Scottish, Lezgin, Indonesian, Portugal and other languages of the world. He translated poetry and prose into Uzbek, Russian, Kyrgyz and English languages of authors from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Russia, Poland, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Iran, Denmark, USA, Slovakia, Mexico, Malaysia, Iraq, Italy, Bangladesh, Nepal, Turkey, Israel, Philippines, etc. Author of over 20 popular patriotic songs in Uzbek, Russian, Kyrgyz languages, written together with composers from Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Germany. He worked as editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Voice of Tekstilshchik" (Osh), deputy editor-in-chief of the city newspaper "Vecherny Osh", own correspondent of the newspaper "Khalk Suzi" of the Supreme Council of Uzbekistan in Kyrgyzstan, editor-in-chief of the regional newspaper "Ak-Buura", executive secretary of the international literary art almanac "Osh", a leading specialist of the Osh Regional Department of Culture, editor-translator of the AKIpress Information and Analytical Bureau, editor-in-chief of the Central Asian news service CAnews.

 


ANCA MIHAELA BRUMA: Educator, lecturer, performance poet, eclectic thinker, mentor with staunch multi-cultural mindset and entrepreneurial attitude, Anca Mihaela Bruma considers herself a global citizen, having lived in four continents. Her eclecticism can be seen in her intertwined studies, she pursued: a Bachelor of Arts (Romania) and a Master of Business Administration (Australia). The author labels her own writings as being “mystically sensual”, a tool and path for women to claim their own inner feminine powers. She uses poetics as a form of literary education, self-discovery and social.

 


RAHIM KARIM

 


Love

 

The fire of the blood, the fire of the heart,

Ignited unexpectedly by God.

You are looking for your beloved every moment,

To warm up with her in this fire.

 

Love covers your entire body,

No one can put out your fire.

Except for the one you love madly

Only she is your salvation.

 

Unable to extinguish your inner ardor,

No snow, no rain, no rescue service.

Only the look of your beloved will cool you down

Save your burning body from the fire.

 

Invisible fire invented by God,

The flame of life, the flame of passion and love.

Love is the forty-degree heat of July,

Love is a hot summer, a period of saratan.

 

Passion

 

Passion is a sea storm of blood,

Which scatters you like a ship

From side to side relentless

It is unlikely that you will be able to hold on to the helm.

 

Rocks you with the ninth wave,

In his own body, not sparing at all.

You become an ocean for a while,

Raging within yourself.

 

A storm of passion seizes you,

In which you are ready to drown.

By dawn, the storm will subside for a while,

You float over the calm sea like a tired ship…

 

Oh, Poets

 

Oh, poets of the world, how many of you there are in the world,

You are like a breath of fresh air to me.

For you are spiritual oxygen for Humanity,

Is it possible to breathe in this world without you?

Oh, poets of the world, it's good that God invented such an occupation,

Write poetry, water the soul with poetic water.

For flowers to sprout in the hearts of people, fruits to ripen,

So that each person turns into a spiritual paradise.

Oh, poets of the world, extraordinary people,

Who cannot live without friendship, without love.

Without kindness, without mercy, compassion,

Who would we stop wars on Earth if not you?!

Oh poets of the world, angels in human form,

Wingless creatures that can fly.

Serve good, serve mercy, serve the world,

Serve humanity, serve God.

Oh, poets of the world, let there be more of you on this Earth,

May you be on every corner, at every step.

Without you, this world will turn into a monster,

In the animal park, you are the bearers of morality, morality.

 

I Can't Kill People...

 

I can't kill people

while killing them alive.

For in each of them I see a brother and sister,

in each of them I see the creation of God.

I can't kill people

while killing them alive.

Because I love each of them

For, I wish happiness to each of them.

I can't kill people

while killing them alive.

Because without them, I'm lonely in the world,

Because without them, I'm not interested in life in the world.

I can't kill people

while killing them alive.

For in each of them I see a man like me.

For. in each of them I see someone's son or daughter.

I can't kill people

while killing them alive.

Perhaps this is my Achilles heel,

Perhaps this is my weakness and impotence.

I can't kill people

while killing them alive.

On the contrary, I want to save them,

Protect, protect, and serve them.

I can't kill people

while killing them alive...

I'm so weak...

It's easy for me to cry…

 

I Love Dad's Pillow

 

I loved my father's pillow

I liked to lie on it when he was not at home.

She was so big and soft and fluffy

And all smelled like a father.

 

I loved my father's pillow

I became a father when I laid my head on his pillow.

He grew older and wiser, felt how difficult it was for him.

On his pillow and saw about the life of the movie.

 

I loved my father's pillow

That supported his father throughout his life.

I learned to get strong, hold my neck proud

And do not bow your head to anyone but Allah.

 

I loved my father's pillow

That sometimes touched my shoulder.

So strengthened my broad shoulders,

Similar to the shoulders of the father.

 

Today my son lies on my pillow,

He probably reads me like a book on it.

He gradually matures, becomes a man.

I want him to become a Human first of all.

 

Long Road

 

Promised me life a long way,

Far from home, from the motherland, from the people.

This road takes me further and further,

In the boundless valleys of the universe.

Which has no end, no edge,

Oh, how endless this road is.

As if spinning around the globe,

Like a squirrel spinning in a wheel.

Sometimes the legs are hurt by stones, splinters,

Sometimes they swell from gravity.

But we must move forward, for this is what God wants,

Walk with your feet in your hands.

Go without looking back

At the same time, without shedding a drop of a tear.

Somewhere the Almighty Himself is calling me,

At the end of this long road?!

And I just keep walking and walking

Past the cities and countries of the white world.

Where are you. my invisible goal

The purpose of my life, for what am I going through life?

 

RAHIM KARIM

 


FETHI SASSI

 


A Scary Dream

 

Every night I have a scary dream.

So I wake up, frightened, as if I’m seeing it for the first time;

a cloud, hanging from a tree,

climbing the night with a shadow around her neck,

from which light rain is falling

to wet the words lying in the garden.

When it thunders, and the twilight’s prophets come down

to adorn the festivities of the mud,

It shivers, just like I do,

disappears under a branch...

....... and sleeps.

Shadow in The Garden

 

He runs...

He hurries.....

He doesn’t look behind.

Wet with rain…water haunting him from every side,

He enters the park,

He stands in front of the door.

Then he goes to see his face in front of the mirror.

He can remember all the shadows left on the road,

but he can’t see his face.

Did he forget his shadow in the garden?

He remained focused yet his memory failed him.

 

A Letter To A Woman

 

To write a letter to a woman who only lives in your dreams

may seem venturous for the sake of writing.

And here I’m now, staying up late at night.

Still writing a speech to a woman who doesn’t know me .

I play with her on my pillow like a passionate kiss.

It shouldn’t really take all this trouble;

as she doesn’t know that I go out every night

looking for a cloud.

That would suddenly fall off the line.

Lonely, I follow her in the jungle of languages.

Then I sit on the hill to read her a poem.

Naïve as I have never been before,

I ask the night about his recent lovers

as my papers get wet with the gentle rain,

and she is waiting for me to sleep

over the edge of the poem.

 

Nothing On My Table

 

Nothing on my table…

But some trivial things that are not worth mentioning:

The book by "Plath" with its straightforward calls for death,

the title of an old god that is no longer worship worthy,

no religious books, as the prophets do not visit me,

and white papers for an anticipated suicide.

Writing is a serious attempt to commit suicide

or to postpone an idea.

Thus… nothing on my table,

but letters to a lover that I don’t know.

 

FETHI SASSI

 

FETHI SASSI: He is a Tunisian poet. Born in 1.6.1962, Nabul, Tunisia. He is a writer of prose poetry, short poems and haiku and a translator of all his poems to English and for others great poets. Poetry Books : A Seed of Love (2010). I dream …. And I sign on birds the last words (2013) A sky for a strange bird ( 2016, Egypt) As  lonely rose … one chair (March 2017, Egypt)  I used to hang my face behind the door ( April 2018) A new way for absence (April2019). Member of :-Tunisian Writers’ Union -Literature Club of Sousse


APRILIA ZANK

 


Leda And The Swan

 

not the white of snow

or the velvet feathers

drove you to surrender

but the strength of muscle

against reluctant fibres

the taste of blood

on your thighs

ancestral instincts

gushing

in the rhythm of motion

opening the eyes

of your mind

wide

at the radiance of light

sensed in your lap

the numinous stir

tensing your breasts

under the numb weight

of feathers

the otherness

of the embrace

the grasp of the beak

on your neck

the mystery of

wings and arms

growing together

 

 

Spell

 

your spell

burns on my skin

signs

which I can't decipher

I lick my wounds

and wait

for the soothing

at the end of the day

 

the sea breeze

drives my tiny boat

to a harbour

with multi-coloured markets

foreign merchants

with sparkling eyes

allure me

with veils and pearls

rare birds

glistening snakes

sensual scents

in gold vessels

heavy wines

 

I steer my boat

with growing strength

to the almost attained goal

but your spell like a whip

grabs me

wraps itself around my arms

around my chest

around my lap

burns desire

onto my skin

and I sink

into the original sin

 

at the end of the day

I scream

and lick my wounds

with bliss.

 

 

Testing The Limits Of Stylistics

 

distance drowned in grape blood

counting empty shells

on a lonely shore

holding tight at scraggy sun beams

looking for the missing word

 

yet we stare at the same stars

wavering between metaphors

 

you can shell your words

mould their pulp anew

wrap them

in brown packing paper

but you can't hide

the gleam in your eyes

 

APRILIA ZANK

 

Dr. APRILIA ZANK is an educationist, freelance lecturer for Creative Writing and Translation Theory, as well as a multilingual poet, translator, editor from Munich, Germany and an Author of the Poetry book BAREFOOT TO ARCADIA. Born in Romania, she studied English and French Literature and Linguistics at the University of Bucharest, and then moved to Munich, Germany where she received her PhD degree in Literature and Psycholinguistics for her thesis, THE WORD IN THE WORD Literary Text Reception and Linguistic Relativity, from the Ludwig Maximilian University, where she started her teaching career. The research for her PhD thesis was done in collaboration with six universities from Europe, and as a visiting lecturer at Alberta University of Edmonton, Canada. Dr Aprilia writes verses in English and German, French and Romanian and was awarded a distinction at the “Vera Piller” Poetry Contest in Zurich. Her poetry collection, TERMINUS ARCADIA, was 2nd Place Winner at the Twowolvz Press Poetry Chapbook Contest 2013. In 2018, she was awarded the title “Dr. Aprilia Zank – Germany Beat Poet Laureate”, by the National Beat Poetry Foundation (USA). She has been an acclaimed guest at cultural events in Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Turkey, Singapore and Romania, where she read her poems, delivered lectures on various topics. Her poems and articles are published in many ezines and Anthologies of different countries.